Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and DMRC chief Mangu Singh flagged off the first train from Nehru Enclave station, Monday. (Express photo/Praveen Khanna)
A number of vendors who had supplied construction material for the DMRC’s Magenta Line protested outside the Nehru Enclave station Monday, alleging non-payment of dues amounting to Rs 85 crore.
The vendors had supplied cement, rods as well as labourers to DMRC contractor FEMC-Pratibha, said Izhar Chaudhary, who owns MB construction. “Our dues have been pending for the last two-and-a-half years. We demand that DMRC pay us the amount from the bank guarantee submitted by the contractor,” he said.
DMRC responded saying it has been asking the contractor to clear the dues for a long time but the contractor had “more or less abandoned work about a year ago”. “The contention by the contractor that the final payment is pending with DMRC keeping in view escalation, variation, etc is misleading,” it said.